Huh, this game doesn't look half bad. I didn't realize a portable machine could put out that kind of graphics.
Maybe I should concider getting a PSP.
I think that's one of the issues as to why some people don't think about psp at all, thinking that it looks just like whatever DS is outputting but without the stylus gimmick and quality nintendo titles.
Honestly I have to say that the PSP is putting out better games than the DS has for the last year or so, There really hasn't been a game on the DS other than Phoenix Wright that has made me want to get day one that it has on the PSP especially in the last little while.
Agreed! Thank you, I'm not the only one. The big DS games have all been small potatoes, with the only real "wow" game, in my opinion, of the last year being Phantom Hourglass. I really liked the first phoenix wright, but some of the leaps of logic in the 2nd case have put me off the rest of the series. I'm not that into trial/error text games, even if they're funny.
But other than that, what's come out? And what's going to come out? I mean the PSP has been firing on all cylinders for apparently a year or so, yet no one seems to care. I'm planning on picking one up in a week or so, for this and the very large handful of games that are right up my alley. I've seen some more recent games in action on the thing, too, and it definitely kick's the DS's ass in the graphics department. Sometimes good graphics and "boring ol regular buttons" are better than tacked on stylus use, IMO.
Huh, this game doesn't look half bad. I didn't realize a portable machine could put out that kind of graphics.
Maybe I should concider getting a PSP.
I think that's one of the issues as to why some people don't think about psp at all, thinking that it looks just like whatever DS is outputting but without the stylus gimmick and quality nintendo titles.
Honestly I have to say that the PSP is putting out better games than the DS has for the last year or so, There really hasn't been a game on the DS other than Phoenix Wright that has made me want to get day one that it has on the PSP especially in the last little while.
Agreed! Thank you, I'm not the only one. The big DS games have all been small potatoes, with the only real "wow" game, in my opinion, of the last year being Phantom Hourglass. I really liked the first phoenix wright, but some of the leaps of logic in the 2nd case have put me off the rest of the series. I'm not that into trial/error text games, even if they're funny.
But other than that, what's come out? And what's going to come out? I mean the PSP has been firing on all cylinders for apparently a year or so, yet no one seems to care. I'm planning on picking one up in a week or so, for this and the very large handful of games that are right up my alley. I've seen some more recent games in action on the thing, too, and it definitely kick's the DS's ass in the graphics department. Sometimes good graphics and "boring ol regular buttons" are better than tacked on stylus use, IMO.
As an aside, you should definitely spring for the third Phoenix Wright (Trials & Tribulations) if you liked the first: It's worlds better than Justice for All IMO, and I think most consider it the best in the series.
The benefit of most of the Console Warriors shifting their ire to the Wii/360/PS3 is that the DS and PSP have quietly returned to just being game machines instead of symbols, and the PSP was dragged over the coals back in '05 and '06 but now it's enjoying a great renaissance. Sadly, it's like pulling teeth to get people to talk about PSP games, although I wonder how much of it is due to people moving attention to the next-gen machines and how much is due to rampant piracy on the system. But the DS and PSP make really good counterparts. I've been DSPing it for about a year now and I would never get rid of either system.
1UP: Tabata-san, Crisis Core appears to be your directoral debut. How were you selected for such a high-profile project? Were you intimidated to work on a prequel to a game as popular as FFVII?
Hajime Tabata: From the beginning, the plan was to create a Final Fantasy game for the PSP. When I was chosen to be director, it was my job to decide, specifically, what the title would be. After consulting with Mr. Nomura and Mr. Kitase, I decided it would be a Compilation of Final Fantasy VII title. Handling such a popular series was indeed a source of pressure, but a good kind of pressure that motivated all of us to do a good job.
1UP: Obviously, going into this project you knew how Zack's story would end, as well as many of the relationships and encounters he would experience. Did you find working to set a pre-defined scenario stifling?
HT: The dramatic irony of Zack's predetermined fate was the primary reason he was chosen to be the title's protagonist.
1UP: Crisis Core's battles are somewhere between an action game and an RPG, and unique in Final Fantasy because you control only a single character. Please tell us about how the battle system was developed. Did you ever consider making it a more traditional combat system like Final Fantasy VII's?
HT: Once it was decided that Zack would be the protagonist, the nature of his story barred us from using the traditional party system. In order to make controlling only one character into a fun and exciting game, we used the base structure of the Final Fantasy VII battle system and added strong action elements. The result was the high-paced, action-oriented RPG experience that is Crisis Core.
1UP: Many people complain about Final Fantasy VII's Materia system, as they feel it robs the characters of their individuality. In Crisis Core, Materia feels true to Final Fantasy VII, but also seems more like an enhancement for Zack than a replacement for his basic traits. Was it difficult to find this balance?
HT: As mentioned before, Crisis Core's battle system is built around using only one character. For this reason, the materia system was designed in a way where players have a choice between "RPG-oriented enhancements" and "action-oriented enhancements," which allowed us to achieve good gameplay balance with relative ease.
1UP: The DMW is very confusing at first, and it's a little strange even once you understand it -- players have such precise control over Zack in combat, but his levels and bonuses are all determined randomly. Why did you use such an unorthodox system, and is it truly 'random'?
HT: In regards to leveling up, it is actually not random. The game counts experience points internally every time Zack defeats an enemy, and once a certain total is reached, a level gain is represented through the DMW. The other DMW effects are generally random, albeit with some mitigating factors. We implemented the DMW system to add an element of luck into the gameplay, so that players who are not that adept at action games would be able to finish the game with some degree of effort. The DMW also provides a distinct feel to the combat system, and adds variety to prevent the gameplay from becoming too repetitive.
1UP: Is there any particular secret to unlocking the flashback videos in the DMW?
HT: Not really. However, there are special materia you can equip to increase the probability of certain DMW effects occurring.
1UP: Crisis Core shows a different side of Final Fantasy VII's characters -- Aerith seems more naive, Cloud more innocent. I think I even saw Sephiroth smile. Was there any concern that you might be changing them too much from what fans know?
HT: We were very aware of the dangers of altering the fans' perception of Final Fantasy VII's iconic characters. In Crisis Core, we operated on the basic concept that these were the characters' "younger days," so that new elements could be added while maintaining a degree of familiarity.
1UP: Does Crisis Core mark the finale for the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII series?
HT: No, it does not. The Compilation's finale will take some other form.
1UP: Most Final Fantasy games are ensemble pieces, but Crisis Core along with Dirge of Cerberus pits the protagonist against the game's events solo. How difficult was it to create a single-character RPG, or was it much easier? Describe the challenges.
HT: Compared to the traditional Final Fantasy style of multiple characters and weapons, it was harder to keep the gameplay fresh in a single player-character environment. In order to make it work, there had to be a departure from the traditional Final Fantasy battle system. At the same time, this is not a pure action game either, so maintaining good gameplay balance was not easy. However, the initial comments we have received from the Japanese players have been quite encouraging, so I think we did a pretty good job.
1UP: What were your favorite parts about revisiting the world of Final Fantasy VII? Increasing the focus on previous details, like the 'Loveless' show? Reinventing the characters?
HT: The most rewarding thing for me was crafting the story of Zack's life into a tale of succession and legacy that, through the Buster Sword, provides a heraldic segueway into Final Fantasy VII.
I absolutely dislike the English VA though, and really wish SE had just included an English subtitles option in the Japanese release. Honestly, comparing both performances of Genesis just makes me sigh at what could have been an awesome experience.
Don't be fooled by the "huge amount" of side missions waiting: yes, they are waiting, but think of them essentially as dungeon crawler type of missions, shortened to suit perhaps a quick getaway during a class break or something.
Yes, the game looks downright amazing, and there's no doubting that. However, if you were expecting the kind of levels that could put Monster Hunter to shame, be warned that you may feel a little claustrophobic playing Crisis Core: the levels are cleverly designed to maximize use of the available world space and yet present a beautiful (though very linear) image to the player. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but this may be a little disappointing for people who would have liked a little more exploration.
New Game+ is great, except for one thing: you lose all your previously attained DMW summons, which is immensely annoying, even if you don't need the extra power.
Also, if it is true that they've upped the difficulty for the EU release, I'll try to get my hands on that one instead. CC was way too easy the first time around.
I wanted desperately to read more of your impressions, SonicTK, but then I saw the big spoiler tag and I decided to curb my curiosity. But glad to hear you liked it. I haven't really read a single negative impression/review of the game yet, although sometimes it's tough to figure out how much FF7 nostalgia plays a part in people's enjoyment.
By the by, I've heard this off and on lately, but does anyone know why FF7 is going for so goddamn much money on eBay? I wish I had kept my original packaging so I could sell mine. :x I haven't played through the game start-to-finish in likely 5 years, although I've restarted countless new games. I typically lose steam either right after getting out of Midgar or shortly after Nibelhelm, for some reason.
The character models in CC look disturbingly similar to Kingdom Hearts'.
Disturbing for you, awesome for me 8-) . Heh, heh, sorry, it's just that I always prefered Nomura's designs when he goes more towards the "cute" end, as opposed to his somewhat creepy "realistic" end. I find Crisis Core to be somewhat in the middle, so I'm satisfied.
Considering that Kingdom Hearts is practically the best thing he's ever done
I wanted desperately to read more of your impressions, SonicTK, but then I saw the big spoiler tag and I decided to curb my curiosity. But glad to hear you liked it. I haven't really read a single negative impression/review of the game yet, although sometimes it's tough to figure out how much FF7 nostalgia plays a part in people's enjoyment.
By the by, I've heard this off and on lately, but does anyone know why FF7 is going for so goddamn much money on eBay? I wish I had kept my original packaging so I could sell mine. :x I haven't played through the game start-to-finish in likely 5 years, although I've restarted countless new games. I typically lose steam either right after getting out of Midgar or shortly after Nibelhelm, for some reason.
I had both FF7 and 8 on PC which I guess is pretty rare. My mom gave them both to charity.
So, no random battles and seeing the monsters before you fight them is cool (something I like in general), but does anyone know if it's more like an MMO or like ChronoTrigger? What I mean is that in MMOs you can see monsters and actually avoid them (or sneak up, etc.); in CT, you see monsters but at some point you "trigger" them and then your party moves to a specific spot on the map, and you can't actually avoid them or get the drop on them.
So, no random battles and seeing the monsters before you fight them is cool (something I like in general), but does anyone know if it's more like an MMO or like ChronoTrigger? What I mean is that in MMOs you can see monsters and actually avoid them (or sneak up, etc.); in CT, you see monsters but at some point you "trigger" them and then your party moves to a specific spot on the map, and you can't actually avoid them or get the drop on them.
It's Chrono Trigger style to a tee—you bump into the enemy or a trigger spot, and from there it flips to a battle mode without changing locations, with the option to run away from battles if you run far enough away or hit a certain spot. The Cactuar video I posted earlier has a good demo of it, I think it's at the top of the second or third page. I don't know if enemy facing affects battles, but importers may be able to tell you.
I know it's a prequel, but having not played FFVII am I ok to pick this up?
Sure I guess... but why would you want to?
The game is pretty much explicitly created for fans of FFVII. So much of it is going to be lost on you cuz you'd don't know the whole backstory.
Play FFVII first?
Or just go to Wikipedia and read the backstory.
All these cats are replying to me..
Anyway, I just told myself years ago that I'd not play FFVII till a remake was made, no particular reason just I missed it the first time around and since Square has been cockteasing us with a remake forever I told myself I'd just wait till it finally got made to play it. So should I just get this and hold onto it till that remake comes out, then play it after VII?
If you're comfortable with the fact that it will give away a major plot point concerning Cloud in the original game, then you can certainly pick this up without any prior knowledge of the original.
I was all set to make this thread, echoing the style of my previous FFVII thread, but laziness and the powerful balls-gripping force of Brawl have kept me from making it in time.
But less work for me, I guess. Even though I've been Smash crazy the last couple of weeks, I'm still highly excited for this game.
Looking Forward To:
1. Zack and Aerith: We'll finally get a realtime look at their relationship, and judging from pics and trailers, theirs was a cute romance. This should hopefully put an end to fanboys still bitching how Aerith is the only girl Cloud will ever "love", but I'm mostly hoping this will finally stop people from clinging on to the Aeris name. It ends in -TH, get over it.
2. Young Cloud: The one character I'm most interesting in following, we'll finally get a look at Cloud's early days as a Shinra grunt, desperately trying to rank up to SOLDIER but far too much of a wuss to get promoted. It'll be very interesting to see Cloud with his head fully intact and his feelings unrestrained, as he works to become stronger and gain the affection of a certain childhood friend. I'm also looking forward to the brother-like relationship he'll form with Zack, along with the final climax that's been lauded by importers throughout ("I cried manly tears!").
3. Sephiroth: So this is when he's still a "good guy" and not filled with Mommy issues. He's still a generally cold person, but it'll be neat to see how his life as Shinra's favorite son was like.
4. The graphics: With every pic and commercial I see, I keep asking myself the same question: How is this a PSP game? There honestly isn't anything else on the system that matches up to these visuals, but considering how impressed I was with God of War, there's probably a vast amount of graphical potential that has yet to be tapped on the system (same with the PS3).
Still Concerned About:
1. Tifa: Despite being a very important part of the Nibelheim incident (which will be shown here in realtime, for the first time, not counting the Last Order OVA), I was sad to learn that Tifa's lines will be in text form only, no dialogue. I was really looking forward to Rachel Leigh Cook reprising the role she claimed to love so much, especially since the Nibelheim scenes make up some of Tifa's most emotionally powerful moments. Unfortunately, since the entire game is shown through Zack's perspective, those scenes will probably be skimmed over. Little Yuffie won't be getting any voiceovers either, which is also a downer.
2. Other FFVII regulars: Aside from Tifa and Yuffie, I've also learned that only one other character from FFVII's party will make an appearance. Want to know who? Check the spoiler:
Vincent. Apparently Zack accidentally stumbles upon the sleeping Vincent will wandering around the Shinra Mansion. While I'm sure his reaction will be priceless, I was hoping for cameos from the rest of the group. I was certain at least Cid would appear, since he's affiliated with Shinra at the time.
3. I miss Zack: Cloud, Squall, and other mopey FF leads get a lot of flack for their personalities, so I'm afraid the Cloud hate will only worsen once people get to experience Zack as a lead character.
4. Genesis: While it's been said by importers that CC's story doesn't do anything to interfere with the original game's canon, I've still got my doubts about the Gackt modeled Genesis, who's been teased as a future villain for Cloud and company. Not only was this guy a one winged super soldier like Sephiroth ("Oh yeah, there were actually more experiments, we just didn't bother mentioning them before"), but he apparently was also Sephiroth's "only friend". Here come the fanfics....
5. What's next for FFVII?: As enjoyable as this no doubt will be, it's likely going to further fuel the FFVII hunger. What's the next step for the Compilation after this? A sequel where Genesis is the villain? The Remake? And what about AC's Blu Ray edition? The silence is maddening.
some sequels/ prequels are standalone enough that there would be no problem playing them out of "order" - but I wouldn't say this is one of them.
You could still enjoy it and have fun, but you'll never be enjoying it or the story as much as you could because of so many direct references to another work you never experienced.
Just get FFVII and play it now. A remake would be cool, but there's never been any actual confirmation of one happening, and anyways it ITSELF would be directly referencing several things in the original game.
I think if you have any inclination to play FF7 at some point, you should definitely play it before Crisis Core. My impression is that CC can definitely stand on its own, but it definitely spoils some of the biggest plot twists and revelations of FF7; so much so that as you play through FF7 you'll wonder what the hell is going on. On the flip side, after playing FF7 you kind of know how Crisis Core will end, but the game is built with that framework of mind, sothe game will play off of your prior knowledge and it'll still be interesting.
You could always just read a really detailed synopsis of FF7 to get ready for Crisis Core. I've no doubt hundreds of FF7 plot synopses are floating around on the Internet.
From what I've played so far (2-3 hours in), the story is entertaining enough to stand on its own. But I don't think I'd be enjoying it near as much without having played FFVII beforehand. Getting to see how Sephiroth interacted with Zack, for example, would not be anywhere near as interesting if I didn't play the original.
I've heard a lot of opinions, including EGM's review, stating that it really isn't necessary at all to play FFVII before this. It sounds like most of the references are for easter egg purposes, aside from the ending. It isn't like AC where you're absolutely required to know the original plot to understand it. It also helps that more than half of the people Zack will interact with are original, never before seen characters.
But yeah, it is interesting how someone who not only didn't play FFVII, but is ignorant to all spoilers (including Ms. you know who) would feel playing this. I'm going to take my time with this game, but I am very interested to see how the ending will play out, since so many people reacted to it emotionally despite knowing the outcome years ago.
For the sake of those newcomers, I propose we keep this thread not only CC spoiler free, but FFVII Original spoiler free too. Yes, even the bit with the katana going through that someone's something.
Also, FX has been playing the commercial for this game. Very short, but the FFVII melody was all it took to get me excited. Hope Best Buy gets it Tuesday and not Wednesday.
On the subject, how reliable is BB with reserving games? I never used them before, but I'm planning to go tomorrow, since they have the slightly better pre-order bonus (metallic case). I really wanted something better though. Wishful thinking had me believe they would include a UMD of Last Order, dubbed in english. It would make up for Tifa's lack of dialogue.
I've never played FF7 and will probably pick this up, Spaniard. I mean, if you're completely averse to spoilers and absolutely MUST experience all story elements in the original intended format, you probably do want to wait.
If you don't really care and just dig a good story and whatnot, then you should be fine. Skim the FF7 wikipedia page for the story -- you don't need to know much -- and go to town. I'm also not interested in playing FF7 for probably similar reasons. I even bought it for PC but just couldn't get into it. But, I skipped the N64/PS1 generation entirely due to the awful pixel explosions and muddy smears they referred to as graphics. I've got standards, ya know ;D
So I too am waiting for a FF7 remake on something somewhat more modern that doesn't look like ass, and I'll play it then. In the meantime, I've read the backstory and know what generally happens. That doesn't ruin the charm of games for me, in general, though. If all you know about FF7 is that there's materia, a big sword, and a silver haired dude, and you want to know NO MORE until you play FF7, well, you probably answered your own question.
cj iwakuraThe Rhythm RegentBears The Name FreedomRegistered Userregular
edited March 2008
My only worry for CC is I'm not looking forward to more of this Gackt/Genesis nonsense messing up the canon. But as long as he doesn't suddenly take center stage(like DoC), I'll get by.
I am looking forward to seeing more of the Shinra hierarchy in action. Especially Hojo.
I just saw the video of Aerith and Zack's first meeting. The brief playing of her melody gave me goosebumps.
I wasn't too sure about buying this game or not..but I decided I will.
Well, picked up the game early from my local game store.
Early impressions:
The DMZ system is frankly bizarre. I'll be hacking away at enemies and all of a sudden a slot machine sequence pops up.
Still with the DMZ system, levelling up is tied to it. For those who don't know, you level up when you hit 7 7 7. What I find weird about the leveling system is that there doesn't seem to be a method to it. From what I've played, it's completely random.
For instance, I went through a good 30+ battles and didn't level up at all. Head into one battle and all of a sudden I gain 3 levels... wth?
I find Crisis Core's gameplay similar to what you find in God of War and Ninja Gaiden. Hack, Hack, Dodge, Hack some more.
It's about damn time there was a decent FF7 spin-off.
The story is amazing, ignore all the wimps that say it's too hard on Normal and super hard on Hard, just do a few missions before each story segment and you will level up/get new gear...
The combat is quite deep, hitting from the rear induces Criticals, using certain magical effects can increase your chances of a DMW spin where you unleash the equivalent of a limit break, as the game goes on it adds new characters as a sort of support summon in the DMW, you fight summons like Bahamut and Ifrit, learn about the Buster Sword and get to see Cloud as a n00b.
I haven't read anything about how much freedom you're given in regards to exploring. Is there a world map? Can you walk around towns? Revisit towns? All that stuff.
Also, I know the Turks are in it, but what about the bigwigs of Shinra, like Scarlet or Heidegger or even Shinra himself (Jr or Sr)? It'd be cool to see any of them with a 3D makeover.
So, no random battles and seeing the monsters before you fight them is cool (something I like in general), but does anyone know if it's more like an MMO or like ChronoTrigger? What I mean is that in MMOs you can see monsters and actually avoid them (or sneak up, etc.); in CT, you see monsters but at some point you "trigger" them and then your party moves to a specific spot on the map, and you can't actually avoid them or get the drop on them.
It IS random battle-based. You do sometimes see adversaries that you can challenge by approaching, but for the most part random mobs will appear out of nowhere. You can still run away from battles, but usually I find it's faster to use something like Whirlwind and finish the mobs off.
The DMW system may seem completely arbitrary, and it essentially is. There are quite a few factors that play into its occurence, though. And levels are pretty much meaningless: your accessories and materia play a much more important role in defining your character.
The main part of Crisis Core essentially revolves around Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal along with explaining a little of Zack's past, so if you were disappointed with Genesis in DoC (english VA I could understand) you probably won't be too happy here.
Posts
I can't wait to get a PSP.
Thanks, thread!
Dammit Sony why you gotta make me hit you
Agreed! Thank you, I'm not the only one. The big DS games have all been small potatoes, with the only real "wow" game, in my opinion, of the last year being Phantom Hourglass. I really liked the first phoenix wright, but some of the leaps of logic in the 2nd case have put me off the rest of the series. I'm not that into trial/error text games, even if they're funny.
But other than that, what's come out? And what's going to come out? I mean the PSP has been firing on all cylinders for apparently a year or so, yet no one seems to care. I'm planning on picking one up in a week or so, for this and the very large handful of games that are right up my alley. I've seen some more recent games in action on the thing, too, and it definitely kick's the DS's ass in the graphics department. Sometimes good graphics and "boring ol regular buttons" are better than tacked on stylus use, IMO.
As an aside, you should definitely spring for the third Phoenix Wright (Trials & Tribulations) if you liked the first: It's worlds better than Justice for All IMO, and I think most consider it the best in the series.
The benefit of most of the Console Warriors shifting their ire to the Wii/360/PS3 is that the DS and PSP have quietly returned to just being game machines instead of symbols, and the PSP was dragged over the coals back in '05 and '06 but now it's enjoying a great renaissance. Sadly, it's like pulling teeth to get people to talk about PSP games, although I wonder how much of it is due to people moving attention to the next-gen machines and how much is due to rampant piracy on the system.
EDIT: Oh, there's a brief interview with the Crisis Core director on 1up, it's an interesting read. And apparently leveling-up is not random at all:
Don't be fooled by the "huge amount" of side missions waiting: yes, they are waiting, but think of them essentially as dungeon crawler type of missions, shortened to suit perhaps a quick getaway during a class break or something.
Yes, the game looks downright amazing, and there's no doubting that. However, if you were expecting the kind of levels that could put Monster Hunter to shame, be warned that you may feel a little claustrophobic playing Crisis Core: the levels are cleverly designed to maximize use of the available world space and yet present a beautiful (though very linear) image to the player. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but this may be a little disappointing for people who would have liked a little more exploration.
New Game+ is great, except for one thing: you lose all your previously attained DMW summons, which is immensely annoying, even if you don't need the extra power.
Also, if it is true that they've upped the difficulty for the EU release, I'll try to get my hands on that one instead. CC was way too easy the first time around.
I've written up some of my impressions about Crisis Core a while back: http://www.sonictk.com/2007/11/24/crisis-core-ffvii/
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By the by, I've heard this off and on lately, but does anyone know why FF7 is going for so goddamn much money on eBay? I wish I had kept my original packaging so I could sell mine. :x I haven't played through the game start-to-finish in likely 5 years, although I've restarted countless new games. I typically lose steam either right after getting out of Midgar or shortly after Nibelhelm, for some reason.
Considering that Kingdom Hearts is practically the best thing he's ever done
I had both FF7 and 8 on PC which I guess is pretty rare. My mom gave them both to charity.
At least, to me it wasn't. I hope this is what Nomura has in mind for 358/2 days as well.
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It's Chrono Trigger style to a tee—you bump into the enemy or a trigger spot, and from there it flips to a battle mode without changing locations, with the option to run away from battles if you run far enough away or hit a certain spot. The Cactuar video I posted earlier has a good demo of it, I think it's at the top of the second or third page. I don't know if enemy facing affects battles, but importers may be able to tell you.
Sure I guess... but why would you want to?
The game is pretty much explicitly created for fans of FFVII. So much of it is going to be lost on you cuz you'd don't know the whole backstory.
Play FFVII first?
Or just go to Wikipedia and read the backstory.
All these cats are replying to me..
Anyway, I just told myself years ago that I'd not play FFVII till a remake was made, no particular reason just I missed it the first time around and since Square has been cockteasing us with a remake forever I told myself I'd just wait till it finally got made to play it. So should I just get this and hold onto it till that remake comes out, then play it after VII?
I was all set to make this thread, echoing the style of my previous FFVII thread, but laziness and the powerful balls-gripping force of Brawl have kept me from making it in time.
But less work for me, I guess. Even though I've been Smash crazy the last couple of weeks, I'm still highly excited for this game.
Looking Forward To:
1. Zack and Aerith: We'll finally get a realtime look at their relationship, and judging from pics and trailers, theirs was a cute romance. This should hopefully put an end to fanboys still bitching how Aerith is the only girl Cloud will ever "love", but I'm mostly hoping this will finally stop people from clinging on to the Aeris name. It ends in -TH, get over it.
2. Young Cloud: The one character I'm most interesting in following, we'll finally get a look at Cloud's early days as a Shinra grunt, desperately trying to rank up to SOLDIER but far too much of a wuss to get promoted. It'll be very interesting to see Cloud with his head fully intact and his feelings unrestrained, as he works to become stronger and gain the affection of a certain childhood friend. I'm also looking forward to the brother-like relationship he'll form with Zack, along with the final climax that's been lauded by importers throughout ("I cried manly tears!").
3. Sephiroth: So this is when he's still a "good guy" and not filled with Mommy issues. He's still a generally cold person, but it'll be neat to see how his life as Shinra's favorite son was like.
4. The graphics: With every pic and commercial I see, I keep asking myself the same question: How is this a PSP game? There honestly isn't anything else on the system that matches up to these visuals, but considering how impressed I was with God of War, there's probably a vast amount of graphical potential that has yet to be tapped on the system (same with the PS3).
Still Concerned About:
1. Tifa: Despite being a very important part of the Nibelheim incident (which will be shown here in realtime, for the first time, not counting the Last Order OVA), I was sad to learn that Tifa's lines will be in text form only, no dialogue. I was really looking forward to Rachel Leigh Cook reprising the role she claimed to love so much, especially since the Nibelheim scenes make up some of Tifa's most emotionally powerful moments. Unfortunately, since the entire game is shown through Zack's perspective, those scenes will probably be skimmed over. Little Yuffie won't be getting any voiceovers either, which is also a downer.
2. Other FFVII regulars: Aside from Tifa and Yuffie, I've also learned that only one other character from FFVII's party will make an appearance. Want to know who? Check the spoiler:
3. I miss Zack: Cloud, Squall, and other mopey FF leads get a lot of flack for their personalities, so I'm afraid the Cloud hate will only worsen once people get to experience Zack as a lead character.
4. Genesis: While it's been said by importers that CC's story doesn't do anything to interfere with the original game's canon, I've still got my doubts about the Gackt modeled Genesis, who's been teased as a future villain for Cloud and company. Not only was this guy a one winged super soldier like Sephiroth ("Oh yeah, there were actually more experiments, we just didn't bother mentioning them before"), but he apparently was also Sephiroth's "only friend". Here come the fanfics....
5. What's next for FFVII?: As enjoyable as this no doubt will be, it's likely going to further fuel the FFVII hunger. What's the next step for the Compilation after this? A sequel where Genesis is the villain? The Remake? And what about AC's Blu Ray edition? The silence is maddening.
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You could still enjoy it and have fun, but you'll never be enjoying it or the story as much as you could because of so many direct references to another work you never experienced.
Just get FFVII and play it now. A remake would be cool, but there's never been any actual confirmation of one happening, and anyways it ITSELF would be directly referencing several things in the original game.
You could always just read a really detailed synopsis of FF7 to get ready for Crisis Core. I've no doubt hundreds of FF7 plot synopses are floating around on the Internet.
But yeah, it is interesting how someone who not only didn't play FFVII, but is ignorant to all spoilers (including Ms. you know who) would feel playing this. I'm going to take my time with this game, but I am very interested to see how the ending will play out, since so many people reacted to it emotionally despite knowing the outcome years ago.
For the sake of those newcomers, I propose we keep this thread not only CC spoiler free, but FFVII Original spoiler free too. Yes, even the bit with the katana going through that someone's something.
Also, FX has been playing the commercial for this game. Very short, but the FFVII melody was all it took to get me excited. Hope Best Buy gets it Tuesday and not Wednesday.
On the subject, how reliable is BB with reserving games? I never used them before, but I'm planning to go tomorrow, since they have the slightly better pre-order bonus (metallic case). I really wanted something better though. Wishful thinking had me believe they would include a UMD of Last Order, dubbed in english. It would make up for Tifa's lack of dialogue.
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edit: unless it's a thread called FFVII spoilers
If you don't really care and just dig a good story and whatnot, then you should be fine. Skim the FF7 wikipedia page for the story -- you don't need to know much -- and go to town. I'm also not interested in playing FF7 for probably similar reasons. I even bought it for PC but just couldn't get into it. But, I skipped the N64/PS1 generation entirely due to the awful pixel explosions and muddy smears they referred to as graphics. I've got standards, ya know ;D
So I too am waiting for a FF7 remake on something somewhat more modern that doesn't look like ass, and I'll play it then. In the meantime, I've read the backstory and know what generally happens. That doesn't ruin the charm of games for me, in general, though. If all you know about FF7 is that there's materia, a big sword, and a silver haired dude, and you want to know NO MORE until you play FF7, well, you probably answered your own question.
I am looking forward to seeing more of the Shinra hierarchy in action. Especially Hojo.
I wasn't too sure about buying this game or not..but I decided I will.
Early impressions:
The DMZ system is frankly bizarre. I'll be hacking away at enemies and all of a sudden a slot machine sequence pops up.
Still with the DMZ system, levelling up is tied to it. For those who don't know, you level up when you hit 7 7 7. What I find weird about the leveling system is that there doesn't seem to be a method to it. From what I've played, it's completely random.
For instance, I went through a good 30+ battles and didn't level up at all. Head into one battle and all of a sudden I gain 3 levels... wth?
I find Crisis Core's gameplay similar to what you find in God of War and Ninja Gaiden. Hack, Hack, Dodge, Hack some more.
It's about damn time there was a decent FF7 spin-off.
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The story is amazing, ignore all the wimps that say it's too hard on Normal and super hard on Hard, just do a few missions before each story segment and you will level up/get new gear...
The combat is quite deep, hitting from the rear induces Criticals, using certain magical effects can increase your chances of a DMW spin where you unleash the equivalent of a limit break, as the game goes on it adds new characters as a sort of support summon in the DMW, you fight summons like Bahamut and Ifrit, learn about the Buster Sword and get to see Cloud as a n00b.
The game rocks!
Also, I know the Turks are in it, but what about the bigwigs of Shinra, like Scarlet or Heidegger or even Shinra himself (Jr or Sr)? It'd be cool to see any of them with a 3D makeover.
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It's one of those deals where the shipment arrives a week ahead of time, but the retailers aren't allowed to sell until the correct date?
Maybe I'll play Castlevania or Disgaea in the meanwhile.
I never asked for this!
Oh you crazy RPG continuity you.
猿も木から落ちる
Because he has..
AMNESIA!!!!
I never asked for this!
It IS random battle-based. You do sometimes see adversaries that you can challenge by approaching, but for the most part random mobs will appear out of nowhere. You can still run away from battles, but usually I find it's faster to use something like Whirlwind and finish the mobs off.
The DMW system may seem completely arbitrary, and it essentially is. There are quite a few factors that play into its occurence, though. And levels are pretty much meaningless: your accessories and materia play a much more important role in defining your character.
The main part of Crisis Core essentially revolves around Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal along with explaining a little of Zack's past, so if you were disappointed with Genesis in DoC (english VA I could understand) you probably won't be too happy here.
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It's cause he's Egyptian.
edit: also, dude, spoil your shit. that completely ruins this CURRENT game.
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How so? Isn't Cloud like in this for all of 10 minutes?
On top of that why would you even be playing this if you aren't a final fantasy fan?
I never asked for this!
no, your other post where you reveal how Crisis Core ends. By mentioning it as a plot point from FF7
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